Referees in MMA

What are some differences between a Great fight and a not so great fight. Stopped too early? The ref is in a bad position? Not knowing what to look for? Standing fighters up too early? These are a few errors a mixed martial arts referee can make. Refereeing is a tough job in any sport and mma is no exception. I believe mixed martial arts referees have even more importance placed on them because their decisions can directly impact the fighter’s physical and mental well being.

It can affect overall fight record and even the amount of cash they take home (win bonus, fight bonuses, etc…) just like with all walks of life there are some better than others. What makes one better than the other? I have some ideas…knowledge of the sport, knowledge of the fighters, what are their chins like; can they recover quickly from a big shot? Do they have a history of being able to take large amounts of damage (ie: Antônio “Minotauro” Nogueira). I think all of these circumstances should be taken into account before a referee steps into the cage.

There are certain things that refs look for before stopping a fight. Most stop the fight when the fighter is not intelligently defending himself. Is there an outline for what that exactly entails? I have not seen one. Does that mean covering up is an intelligent defense? Moving around? Personally I think it means trying to improve your position while defending punches, knees, kicks etc… Big John McCarthy says when it comes to TKO’s he looks for “googly eyes”. He looks at the fighter’s eyes to see if anyone’s home. I am no ref but I think that is a great indication. I was recently watching the Chuck Liddell vs. Alistair Overeem Fight from Pride’s Middleweight tournament (2003). I noticed when Chuck caught Overeem with that huge nuclear warhead of an overhand right you could see Alistair’s eyes…. I don’t know what planet he was on, but it wasn’t earth. Not to mention he was walking up invisible stairs. Those are clear indications that you should get close enough to stop it in the next couple seconds. Sometimes it is not that obvious.

The most recent highly talked about match would have to be UFC 116 Lesnar vs. Carwin main event. Many people think Josh Rosenthal did a great job by letting the fight continue when Brock was in BIG trouble early in the first round. Rosenthal explained that he was yelling at Brock to move and start defending himself. Brock responded by putting his hand on Carwin’s bicep so Shane could not generate maximum power in his punches. That also gave him some room to get wrist control and kick Shane away to get some space. It was refreshing to see the referees receiving praised for once. Human error is always going to be present in mixed martial arts. As spectators and fans we will just have to hope that the referee has the proper tools and training so that in the end, it’s the fighters, and not the referees that decide the outcome of the fight.

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By Kevin Leal
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer